


A Happy Beginning

by gluhbirne1



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 11:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10990314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gluhbirne1/pseuds/gluhbirne1
Summary: Belle and Rumple start their happy beginning with a vow renewal.





	A Happy Beginning

It was early morning. The atmosphere of the forest was a stark contrast to the cold, dry evening of their wedding. Today it was warm and damp, slightly humid, and had Belle not been wearing a hat and Rumple had not cut his hair short, they would both have looked like something resembling poodles. They walked up the track together, hand in hand. Gideon was staying at the loft with Snow and David. Rumple had been hesitant at this arrangement, but Belle had insisted.

*

_“They’re family, remember? We can trust them. With this, at least.” Belle had said the night before, after they had come home from the celebratory dinner at Granny’s._

_Rumple snorted. “If you can call being Gideon’s nephew’s maternal grandparents family, yes, I suppose they are.”_

_“Listen,” Belle said, placing her hands firmly on his chest and looking deep into his eyes. “The past few… months have been difficult. Not just between us, but with everyone. Our relationship with them, it’s been strained,”_

_“They tried to kill our son,” Rumple said matter-of-factly, his expression grim._

_“But,” Belle said firmly, gently pushing him with her hands as if to remind him not to interrupt her, “the Gideon they knew was the Gideon controlled by the Black Fairy. And that won’t ever happen again. She’s gone now, because of what you did. We’re safe from her. Now what we need to do is mend our relationships with them. What better way than for our son and Snow and David’s to become friends?”_

_Rumple smiled, his hands moving to cover hers. “You’ve always been too good at seeing the best in people.”_

_“Hey,” she twisted away from him and headed towards the crib where, turning her head backwards as she walked to face her husband, “if it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t be standing here making plans to renew our vows tomorrow._

_“Alright then,” Rumple said, coming to join Belle at the crib. After such an exhausting evening of bustle and noise, Gideon was soundly sleeping. Belle reached down to take his tiny hand, and Rumple put an arm around her waist. Then he smirked. “I’m not becoming friends with Hook, though.”_

_Belle nearly laughed before catching herself. She didn’t want to wake Gideon. “I would never ask that much of you,” she said softly._

*

The leaves crunched under their feet as they walked. Rumple wore his usual suit and tie, one which Belle had picked out for him. Despite his collection of clothes being limited and lacking in any variance at all, this suit was her favourite. It wasn’t black, for a start. Dark blue jacket and trousers, a paler blue shirt and a blue and white tie. Belle, having decided that traditional wedding-white would not be a suitable colour, wore a pale blue lace dress with embroidered roses on the bodice, and flat ballet pumps. She wasn’t keen on being in this close proximity to the ground, but her ankle was still hurting, and on a walk through a forest Rumple had insisted she leave the heels in the closet.

They walked in silence, their fingers gently intertwining as the approached the well. Archie stood there, waiting.

“Belle, Mr. Gold, are you ready?”

They looked at each other, and Rumple smiled. “Yes. Always.”

Belle laughed and gave his hand a squeeze before briefly letting it go, positioning herself opposite him, and then taking both hands up again. After a quick glance at Archie, who only nodded, she looked up into his eyes, and said, “Rumplestiltskin, when we got married, I said that what we have, it’s never been easy. Nothing proves that like the events of the last few weeks. Most couples wouldn’t survive what we went through. But we did. I said that I’ve spent my life finding you. Well now I have. I’ve found you, Rumplestiltskin,” Belle could feel tears of joy collecting in her eyes, and for a brief second she had to look down at the leaves, at their feet, to compose herself. Feeling a squeeze on her hand, she looked back up again. “And I’m never going to let you go.”

“Oh Belle,” Rumple nearly whispered, his head tilting and tears welling up in his eyes just as Belle’s had. “I was lost in the darkness, corrupted by power. I have hurt you, and betrayed you, more times than I could count. You left me, and who am I to blame you?” His smile wobbled but Belle’s gentle gaze into his eyes encouraged him to continue. “You said that the monster was gone. It was not, and I cannot promise that it is gone now, because I cannot lie to you again. It’s a part of me. But your love helps me make it a smaller part of me. You came back to me, Belle. I cannot imagine why, but you did. I love you, Belle.”

Belle reached for his face and touched his cheek with her hand. “I refuse to believe you are a monster, Rumple,” and then she repeated what she had said on their wedding day, “sometimes the best book has the dustiest jacket, and sometimes -”

Rumple mirrored her actions and held her cheek with his hand, “and sometimes the best teacup is chipped,” he finished. Melting into each other’s embrace, they both leant forwards and kissed.


End file.
